Game Night
by snheetah
Summary: For Valentine's Day Becky's parents attend a social gathering at Fair City, leaving Becky on a playdate with Tobey. A word game is played between them, enough to make the boy genius suspicious of Becky being WordGirl. Will Becky keep her identity a secret or will Tobey take things too far once more?


**I don't own WordGirl**

**A/N: Story takes place after the events of "Battle of Words." Thank you all for the reviews on that fanfic and the others by the way! :)**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was a late afternoon over at Fair City and Becky Botsford had just finished the last of her English homework that consisted of defining vocabulary words that were used in a sentence. Becky set down her pencil and looked at her finished homework with great pride. _Piece of cake _she thought before tucking the piece of paper in her folder and back inside her backpack. Now that her homework was finished, perhaps she could use the rest of her time to indulge in watching one of the _Pretty Princess _episodes or better yet, indulge in some good reading.

"Becky!" she heard her mother's voice calling her from downstairs, causing the young brunette to immediately head down the stairs and look at her mother expectantly. What she noticed before her was that her parents were dressed up. Her mother was out of her usual daywear and sported a set of pearls around her neck and a beautiful black dress whilst her father wore a black and white tux with a black bowtie.

"Whoa..." Becky commented, "are you guys going somewhere?"

"Tonight is Fair City's annual Valentine's Day Couples Only dinner!" Tim Botsford exclaimed enthusiastically as Sally took the liberty to straighten the bowtie that had tilted to the side.

"Oh yeah," Becky responded, "I saw flyers around the city for that gathering." All they had in school was just Valentine's Day cards for their classmates...and Becky was glad that this time Victoria didn't take the opportunity to steal anyone's Valentines.

Social events like this always made Becky alert for she knew that something was bound to happen. Who knows whether one of the villains decided to crash and use their mind control, cheese contraptions, flinging meat, or their robots to destroy the event. She only hoped that such wouldn't happen and that her parents and everyone else could enjoy such a special occasion.

"We have been looking forward to this ever since they hung the fliers," Sally smiled as she gave her husband a gentle peck on the cheek, causing him to chuckle. "Oh before I forget, I know that TJ has gone over to Johnson's house for tonight."

"Yup," Becky replied with a nod of her head, "it will be just be Bob and I at the house. Though I think Bob has decided to take a long deep slumber for tonight."

"About that," Sally intervened but before she was able to speak, "I spoke to Mrs. McCallister earlier today and she has to work late, so I offered to set up a playdate for you and Tobey for tonight until we get back."

It took Becky all the will to not facepalm in front of her parents. Tobey McCallister, the boy genius in school who had a great passion for building robots and vandalize the whole city just so he could get her attention...no not Becky's but _WordGirl's _attention. Becky was about to ask why couldn't they have said 'no' or better yet, why couldn't he have gone to someone else's house but Becky already knew the answer to that. She had been the first person that he had been acquainted with ever since they had met, let alone having their desks next to one another in class. Not to mention that both of their mothers were colleagues and even friends at work and she knew that her mother was just trying to be hospitable.

"I know it's last minute but-" Sally softly spoke before Becky interjected.

"No, no," she shook her head and mustered a smile, "it's no problem at all."

"I am glad you understand," the woman smiled as she put a hand on her daughter's shoulder. Just then the door bell rang and Sally perked up. "Oh that must be our guest!" she exclaimed as she went ahead and opened the door, revealing none other than Tobey McCallister III by the doorway. "Hello Tobey," she greeted him.

"Good afternoon Mrs. Botsford," the blond boy responded to her, keeping in mind his manners like his mother had mention to him numerous time beforehand. _Be sure to be respectful, mind your manners, and certainly no robots!_ Her words had echoed in his mind ever since he had gotten off the phone with her after she had called to tell him that she was going to come home late. Now Tobey wasn't eager to go over to the Botsford house. He had better things to do than join in on this silly playdate that had been set up between their mothers but he knew that there was no way in going against his mother's words...and this was something that he was just going to have to deal with.

"Please come on in," Sally said as she stepped to the side and allowed the boy genius to walk in.

"Becky," he greeted the young brunette with a curt nod of his head, causing her to fold her arms across her chest and mumbled a 'hi.' Such a response made the boy genius smirk in satisfaction. There was something about irritating Becky that was rather enjoyable to him. It rather reminded him three weeks ago during that Wordy Wednesday competition where they were against each other in finding synonyms of difficult words. The way she furrowed her brows, clenched her hands into fists, and greeted her teeth whilst he had a calm demeanor had made that competition entertaining.

"We'll leave you two kids alone. We'll be home by eight," Tim spoke up as he took a gentle grasp of his wife's hand, "shall we my dear?" he asked her with a smile that Sally had fallen in love with plenty of times before they headed out the door and over to the social event.

Once the door closed, Tobey looked over his shoulder and then over at Becky who stood a good couple of feet away from him. "Charming," the boy genius commented and Becky couldn't tell whether he was being serious or sarcastic. "I assume they're heading over to the Couples Only dinner? How quaint."

"If by _quaint _you mean old-fashioned but with charm then yeah," Becky responded with a slight glare in her eyes, "what's it to you?"

The boy genius shrugged his shoulders. "No reason. I still believe that such an event on such a mindless holiday is an ugly example of consumerism gone awry." With that, he took the liberty and walked over to the couch where he sat down.

_Ugh _Becky mentally groaned _let's get this playdate over with_. She was already dreading the moment her mother said that he was coming over here and couldn't wait for the time to fly by. "Fine then," she said as she sat down on the other end of the couch but a couple of inches away from him, "what do you want to do? Watch television?"

"Television is a foolish way to pass the time when one could do something productive," the boy genius responded. The only time he had ever watched television was when he was coincidentally in the living room reading a book and the news had come on. The anchor had began talking about new superhero in the city and at that moment, Tobey had looked up from his book and noticed the picture that was presented. After that, he had no desire to see what was on television afterwards.

Becky suppressed the urge to roll her eyes. "Fine any books you want to read?"

"Any books on robots?" he asked.

"Nope," Becky replied to him with a shake of her head, "not my cup of tea."

"No books on robots how dull," Tobey rolled his eyes before they fell onto a board game that was discarded on the floor. He knelt to the ground and picked up the board game in his hands, squinted at the name that was on it. "Babble?" he raised a curious eyebrow before looking over at Becky.

Becky's eyes slightly widened as she let out a small gasp. "Oh I love that game," she smiled as she took the board game out of his hands. "You have to make out a set of words from the letter tiles that you have before the time runs out."

Well this game was definitely different than the game, _By Jove, You've Wrecked My Robots_, he had bought months ago. "And you just conveniently have this game," he commented looking at the game up and down as if he was going to start a research on it. "My Becky, you seem to be quite the logophile."

Becky blinked when Tobey said that. The more she expressed her love of words, the more she was close to revealing her identity and she didn't want to do that...especially towards Tobey of all people. "I love words, what's your point?" she asked him.

"No reason," Tobey said, "it's just that I didn't expect to be another person in this whole city to enjoy words just as much as...WordGirl does."

Becky could easily tell with that suspicious tone of voice that he had, he was probably up to something. "For the last time," the girl sighed, "I am not WordGirl."

"Did you hear me say that you were?" he asked her.

"N-No," Becky blinked, "but you're accusing me of being her."

"Why don't we just see about that," the boy genius said as he reached over and snatched the game out of her hand and set it on the table.

"What're you doing?" Becky quickly asked.

"Why I am just intrigued to play this game," Tobey responded as he took out the board game from the box and set it neatly on the table. He took out a bag that held the tiles and a small hourglass.

"We don't have to play it," Becky shook her head, "I refuse to do so."

"But what if I want to?" Tobey asked her, "after all, I am the guest and you are the hostess...and the hostess _has_ to be able to make their guests happy. You...you do know what 'host' means don't you...Becky?"

"Which one do you want the definition of?" Becky asked him, "where I am gracious to entertain my guest or one where the guest is being a parasite?"

_Harsh _Tobey thought. Becky had never spoken like that before but the more he prodded her on, the more annoyed she got. "Clever Botsford," he said with a slight glare in his eyes before he stared down at the board game, "seems like you know your elementary science all too well. Since I am just a parasite, why don't you do the honors and commence the game?"

Becky's eyes bounced over to the clock on the wall and looked at it for a mere second. _5:30. Two and a half-hours of this_. She let her shoulders slump and sat down on the floor across from Tobey. "We each divide the number of letter tiles between one another. The empty slots here represent the amount of points we each get. Whoever has the most points wins."

Tobey tried to catch as much as he could, for Becky spoke the rules far too quickly. "Why don't we make this interesting?" he suggested.

"No. Absolutely not," Becky refused with a shake of her head.

"If I win, you have to tell me whether you're WordGirl."

"I said no!"

"If you win...I can promise that I won't ever came back for another playdate."

Becky stared at him with a deadpan look on her face. _That was the suggestion?_ she thought. "How about this?" she spoke up, "if I win, you have to promise me to never use your robots on the city again."

"Now why would you suggest such a silly thing like that?" Tobey asked her, "you're not WordGirl and my robots have never done anything to you."

"That wasn't true the first time you came over and your robot almost annihilated my home with his metallic foot," Becky reminded him.

"Why that was ages ago," Tobey couldn't help but chuckle at that memory. Oh how close he had gotten to the fact that Becky was indeed WordGirl but she had proven him otherwise. However, there was a part of him that still held onto that feeling that the girl before him was Fair City's super heroine.

"Still not over it," Becky said, "are we going to start the game or continue this debacle? I don't want to negotiate anything with you." _Though I wouldn't mind if you never came here for another playdate _she bitterly thought.

"No," Tobey shook his head, "I still stand by what I said...and believe me," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a remote control, "I have my ways of making you say 'yes.'"

Upon seeing the remote control in his hand, Becky's mouth went dry. She knew that with just one click, he would summon a robot somewhere in the city and that would put her in a predicament. There was no other negotiation that she could do against this stubborn boy. Letting out a sigh, Becky pinched the bridge of her nose and had no choice but to succumb to his wishes. "Let's just start the game," she grumbled.

"Is that your way of saying 'yes?'" Tobey asked.

"Divide the tiles!" Becky hollered, making the boy genius drop the bag of tiles to the ground. He had not expected such a response from such a mild-mannered girl but took her response as an agreement to their deal.

"But of course Becky dearest," he teased and began to divide the tiles evenly among them.

_Ew _Becky thought as she took the tiles over to her side and place them on the wooden tile holder. She looked at the extensive letter tiles before her as her mind quickly began to come up with the infinite amount of words that she could make. _This will be an easy win...but I cannot have Tobey get suspicious of me of being WordGirl_ she thought to herself.

"This will be just like 'Wordy Wednesday,'" Tobey commented, "only just you and I and no one else," he smirked as he looked at the tiles before him. Perhaps he couldn't make out the amount of words that Becky possibly would, but he was just as smart as she was. _Don't be fooled Botsford, I have always been __suspicious of you ever since we first met_. He looked up from his tiles and over to the girl. "Ready to begin?"

"Yes," he responded.

Becky took the hour glass and turned it upside down, allowing the sand to run through. _Take your time Becky, don't rush _she meditated to herself as she picked up the first tile and began to put them on the empty board. _Let's start with simple words. Maybe then he won't be so suspicious. _She took her time and placed three tiles going down with the word 'BASIC.' There was just enough sand in the hourglass before it ran out.

Now it was Tobey's turn. He let the sand completely finish before turning it to the other side. What word could be use off of 'BASIC?' His eyes scanned over the tiles before he picked out his tiles and created the word 'BIAS.'

_Hmm _Becky thought before reaching over to her own tiles. 'SIB.' She looked over at Tobey's raised brow before saying, "it's a word short for sibling."

"Ah, I knew that," the boy genius responded. "I hope you also know this one," he said before placing an 'I' and an 'S' after tile 'B' to create the word 'BIS.'

"And I though Victoria was musically inclined to repeat the same musical score," Becky commented.

"Ugh," Tobey shook his head when he thought of the time that his classmate who believed to be 'the best of the best' had hypnotized him and taken the chocolate heart that was meant for WordGirl and almost started a brawl between him and Scoops. "That girl can be preposterous, taking my chocolate heart meant for WordGirl."

Becky remembered that event before slowly shaking her head. "And then believing that she was the best superhero."

"I know-wait..." Tobey caught himself before continuing, "how do you know that?" he asked her.

"What do you mean?" Becky asked him, feeling that she had suddenly walked into a trap, "I was at school that day."

"I know you were but I don't recall seeing you actually there when Victoria said it."

"Oh would you look at that?" Becky spoke in a high pitch as she turned the hourglass around, "my turn!" She gave herself a mental facepalm and tried to focus on the tiles before her. She needed to be better at keeping her mouth shut when it came to events when she was present only as WordGirl. _Think, think _she thought, easily distracted by her thoughts.

'SNAKE.' She placed the tiles on the empty slots after the word 'BIS.'

'SNEAK.' Tobey did so afterwards.

"Are you implying something Tobey with your choice of words?" she asked him.

"No," he responded nonchalantly, "unless you are?"

_Why do I feel the sudden urge to flip this table over_? Becky thought, but that would be a bad idea in both of being a hostess and displaying her super strength. If Tobey was going to be vindictive, then she was going to be just the same too.

'NOSY.' After putting those words on the tile, she crossed her arms and glared at him.

Tobey clenched his hands but kept his emotions at bay. _So this how it's going to be?_ he thought as he stared at the word. 'LIAR.'

Becky clenched her teeth and rummaged through her tiles. 'CHEATER.'

Now that word meant two meanings. Either she was calling Tobey a cheater or she used the twentieth century term for the modern word 'glasses.' Either way, Tobey did not take that as lightly as he should have. 'UNIMAGINATIVE.'

Becky blinked at the amount of tiles that he had taken up. The only thing that she was 'unimaginative' of was when it came to art...and she was pretty bad at that subject. 'IMMATURE.'

_You or_ I? Tobey thought and tried with all his will to keep his emotions at bay. 'UNCOMMUNICATIVE.'

_I have nothing to say to you!_ Becky wanted to yell. To her, it seemed as if they were communicating through the board game but she didn't give it a second thought. 'REPULSIVE.'

"Ha!" Tobey let out a laugh. 'IMPERSONATE.'

Becky let out a low growl when she saw that word. _What in the world did he mean by that_? She had never impersonated anyone...that is if her Pretty Princess Halloween costume counted as one. 'IRKSOME.'

_When I want to be _Tobey thought before he looked down at the remaining tiles. _Let's see what she'll think when I do something differently. _He took a bunch of tiles in the palm of his hand and began to place them one by one. 'I KNOW YOUR SECRET.'

Becky blinked when she looked at the tiles. "What secret?" she asked before blinking and realizing what he had just done. "Tobey, that's not how you play the game!" she exclaimed before putting her hands on her hips.

"I am aware," Tobey responded, "but just look at all these words that we have made...not to mention you even defined a fair few."

"Yeah, name one?" she asked him.

"Hmm," he hummed in thought as he tapped his chin, "ooh yes. _Quaint, bias, logophile_...and a fair few during 'Wordy Wednesday.'"

Becky fiddled with her fingers as she tried to think of a quick excuse. "So anyone could know those words!" she said.

"Oh please," Tobey rolled his eyes, "the students in our class don't even know half of these words on here!" he exclaimed as he flung his arms over to the board that rested in front of them. "Just admit it Botsford, you're WordGirl."

_That's it_! Becky screamed in her mind but she couldn't explode in front of Tobey. Taking a deep breath through her nose, she clasped her hands together and tried to keep them from shaking. "Tobey, I do not appreciate these accusations towards me being WordGirl. Why is it that every time we are together for a playdate or a battle you have to say that?"

"A battle?" Tobey echoed her words with a blink, "why I believe the only time I have battled you was through competitions in class."

Becky turned her back to the boy genius and shut her eyes, wanting to do nothing but disappear in thin air for almost revealing her secret.

"I do agree we get into a skirmish every now and then," Tobey continued, "but I don't quite think you meant it in _that _sense did you..._WordGirl_?"

Villains, let alone Tobey, were the least of all people that Becky wanted to have her secret revealed to. Even if she were to reveal it, she didn't know what he would do with it. He was a mischievous boy and the only thing that Becky could think of was that he would probably tell her secret to all the villains and they'd know where her spaceship hideout was, that she was Becky Botsford, and worse of all come after her family.

"Why so quite Becky? Cat got your tongue?" Tobey prodded her.

"If you think that I am really WordGirl, what evidence do you have? Why do you want to know her secret so urgently?" Becky asked him whilst her eyes checked over at the clock. _Thirty more minutes before my parents come home._

"The board game is evidence enough," Tobey replied, "let alone your expansive vocabulary and your..." his voice trailed off before he said something that would probably make him blush.

"Go on," Becky told him, not showing an emotion of being impressed by his words.

Tobey cleared his throat. "Your...constant disappearances. Do you really think that just by hiding behind a tree and flying into air is a good enough diversion to keep your identity concealed? Anyone could have noticed that and trust me Becky, I have been noticing that."

"Maybe you were just seeing things?" Becky suggested.

"My sight may not be good but these make it much better," Tobey stated as he pointed to the thick-rimmed glasses. "A fluorescent light does not appear out of nowhere from behind a tree."

"Scoops camera does that," Becky added.

"Enough making these silly excuses," Tobey said with a sigh, growing rather weary that he was not making her admit her secret identity. "Why don't you be truthful for once? Are you or are you not WordGirl?"

Becky felt that she was being held hostage and interrogated in her own home. The one place where she thought she would always be safe when she was not fighting crime and not that Tobey was being this way with her, she felt that she was not only putting herself in danger but also her family. She grit her teeth and furrowed her brows whilst she stared at him. The words were at the tip of her tongue and she knew she was going to regret them the moment she said it, but she just couldn't keep doing this anymore.

"Get out Tobey," she said.

"I beg your pardon?" Tobey blinked but before he knew it Becky was pushing him out the doorway.

"I said get out and don't bother coming back!" she exclaimed before slamming the door shut with such force that is almost caused the door to fly off its hinges.

The door slammed so loudly that Tobey swore his ears began ringing. He watched as Becky walked over to the window and pulled the curtains closed whilst giving him the most menacing glare that he had never seen before. A part of his was enraged at the fact that he was treated in such a disrespectful manner. Who did she think she was? Pushing him like that and slamming the door on his face.

"I have never..." he whispered to himself at such a reaction from Becky, but another part of him felt remorse for pushing Becky to her limits. He had never seen her act that way, but he also couldn't shake the feeling that she was also hiding something. Whether she was truly WordGirl or not, he knew that he was not going to get a response anytime soon...nor ever after the way he had treated her.

He heard the sound of high heels making their way towards the Botsford property before he turned around and noticed that it was Becky's parents. "Tobey?" Sally said as she saw the young boy before her. "What are you doing outside? Is your mother back home so soon?"

Time had really flown by and Tobey was rather glad for that. Now was his chance to be revengeful and tell Mr. and Mrs. Botsford how Becky had just treated him. "Indeed Mrs. Botsford," Tobey answered with a nod of his head, "mother had just called the moment you were on your way. What a coincidence," he said with a weary chuckle before looking up at the woman with a small smile.

"Did you at least have a good time?" Tim spoke up.

"Yes," Tobey nodded his head with a smile, "your daughter..." _Say it, get her in trouble like she has done you before_! "Was a gracious host."

"That's our Becky," Sally smiled fondly, "I'm glad that you had a good time Tobey. Be sure to say 'hello' to your mother from us," she said to him and gently ruffled his blond hair.

Tobey slightly flinched at the touch but chuckled. "Of course. Have a pleasant night Mr. and Mrs. Botsford," he said with a nod of his head before departing. The moment he heard the Botsford's walking into their home he peeked over his shoulder and noticed Becky peeking out from behind the curtain. Whether she had been eavesdropping on their conversation, he didn't know...unless she had super hearing. Slowly, he bought up his arm and slowly waved it.

Becky blinked at his reaction, ready to fling the curtain shut but it wasn't before that she bought up her own hand and waved to him in return. Her only hope was that they hadn't severed the acquaintanceship that they had built on after all this time.

* * *

**The End**


End file.
